


Surprise

by loveneverfails



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: Birthday Party, F/M, Gen, Surprise Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-15
Updated: 2012-07-15
Packaged: 2017-11-10 01:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveneverfails/pseuds/loveneverfails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Robin's birthday and that means something, he tells himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> I asked for couples/prompts on Tumblr and Barney/Robin: surprise was given!

It's not like Barney's ever really cared about birthdays before. Sure, it's a great way to pick up chicks (birthday sex ranks amongst his top ten favorite sexes, don't get him wrong). But he hasn't been this excited about a birthday since he was a child and the Postmaster lost those invitations and he spent his eighth birthday all alone, blowing out candles and eating way too much cake for just three people. Once you eat so much cake that it makes you literally puke sprinkles, birthdays just kind of lose their wonder.

But that's neither really here nor there.

It's Robin's birthday and that means something, he tells himself as he finishes hanging the banner above the bar at MacLaren's. (Marshall tried but it was just lopsided and wrong and this night had to be perfect, so Barney tasks himself with the job after he's made sure the balloons are scattered evenly around the bar.) Robin's never had a birthday like this, surrounded by her friends and the people she calls family. She's never had anyone care enough about her to do this, to throw together a last minute surprise party to coincide with her thirty third birthday.

It was really Lily's idea. That's what he tells himself, even though he was the one to remind her of the birthday last week. And the one who suggested MacLaren's. And the one who bought the supplies. And --

It just has to mean something, okay?

So when Ted comes running in with a flourish, practically bouncing on his feet with excitement and whisper-hisses, "She's coming, she's coming, she's **_COMING_**!!!!" Barney feels a weird sense of excitement. His heart actually skips or flutters or something totally not cool and he tells himself it's probably just indigestion from the nachos he ate earlier.

He joins Lily and Marshall behind the bar after he's flicked the light switch and they're all left in darkness until they hear the soft padding of Robin's feet as she enters behind Ted.

Barney sneaks a peek from around the corner of the bar.

He tells himself he just wants to make sure she likes the surprise. Maybe he really just wants to see the look on her face as she takes it all in.

\----

Later, when he's watching her from across the room as she talks to Ted, he knows all of this trouble Lily's put into tonight probably means something. But he doesn't have time to think it over too much because Robin's heading towards him with a smile that radiates pure happiness - something that makes that weird indigestion flare up again - and he finds himself smiling easily in return.


End file.
